Editorial Editorial (August 20, 2004)

New program aids students getting back to school

It's that time of year again when parents and students start looking for the safest and fastest ways to get to school. To help, the city of Pleasanton and the school district have teamed together with a "Rides to School" program to encourage carpooling, bike riding and mass transit between home and school. This partnership, driven by City Manager Deborah McKeehan and School Superintendent John Casey, includes a special mailing to students and their families, a ride-matching brochure, a WHEELS bus schedule and route map, and free passes on WHEELS starting next Saturday, Aug. 28, and good until Friday, Sept. 10. After that, students can ride the bus with FareBuster tickets costing 85 cents, or 75 cents with a 40-ride PunchPass. While public transit is not a school bus, many schools are served by WHEELS fixed route buses regularly throughout the day, making it a worthy alternative to driving. As part of the Rides to School program, specific route maps to Foothill and Amador Valley high schools have been sent to students, and, for sixth, seventh and eighth-graders, "Ride Free" leaflets are being sent to their homes with schedules and route maps to Harvest Park, Hart and Pleasanton middle schools.

Another important element of the Rides to School program is the carpooling Matchlist, which connects parents and students who are interested in forming carpools to school. In their letter to parents, Casey and McKeehan point out that carpooling can give parents more options in their student's ride to school. Parents can take turns driving carpools and, therefore, take a break from doing it every day. The use of commute alternatives, such as walking, biking and carpooling, or public transit, can help alleviate the traffic which occurs during the drop-off and pick-up periods. Included with their letter is a Matchlist request form from the Bay Area Air Quality Management District which, in cooperation with the city of Pleasanton, will match carpooling enthusiasts by schools and neighborhoods and put them in touch with each other.

The Rides to School traffic calming program promises to be a beneficial interactive partnership that is being managed and monitored by Pamela Ott and Lisa Adamos of the city's Economic Development Department. Long an innovator and leader in a business ride-sharing and alternative transportation program for Pleasanton businesses called "Commendable Commute," this department's new focus on the growing traffic congestion problems in school commutes is equally commendable. City Traffic Engineer Jeff Knowles describes it as 15 minutes of madness when parents, or high school students driving their own cars, head from homes to school in the nick of time before classes start, and then back home again. Particularly in the morning, when they find themselves among other rush hour motorists leaving for work, this peak load of traffic clogs Pleasanton streets and intersections, adding to travel time and safety concerns. While carpooling and other forms of alternative transportation are good for everybody, the opportunities for mass transit and matching up carpooling opportunities are much greater and easier among school commuters.

To learn more about the Rides to School program before schools open Aug. 30, we urge you to call Lisa Adamos at 931-5039 or Ron Mahler at the school district, 426-4410.

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